When Failing To Deliver What You Promise Can Result In A Whistleblower Lawsuit

In harsh economic times, it is understandable that people may be more inclined to study with the hope that by obtaining a degree in the subject of their choice, they stand more chance of securing a job and a decent salary, so that they can make plans for their future. But what happens when the college in which they pinned their hopes and dreams, enrolled them knowing that they didn't have sufficient placements for the students to graduate. Such a case happened back in 2007 when a whistleblower lawsuit was filed against Kaplan Inc. that related to its surgical technology program at its Career Institute in Broomall, Pa.

Greedy college continued to enroll students

In July of 2011, a whistleblower lawsuit eventually came to court. Investigations began back in 2007 when the former director of education at Kaplan's Career Institute, David Goodstein, alleged that students were continuing to be enrolled into the surgical technology course, even though there were insufficient clinical placements available for the students to graduate.

It was claimed that the students were sent home supposedly on leave of absence and instructed to wait for placements that in many cases never materialized. Kaplan settled the case although they did not admit to any wrongdoing. They agreed to pay $1.6 million, to bring an end to the case, out of which $500,000 was to be paid to various banks on behalf of the 43 students who had taken out student loans, but been unable to graduate because of a lack of placements at the school which was on one of Kaplan's for profit campuses. The money was intended to pay back the loans and enable the students to move on with their lives. Mr Goodstein and his lawyer received $225,000 of the settlement money for their part in bringing the case. Mr. Goodstein was said to have whistleblown on Kaplan because he was concerned that not only had the students been unable to graduate but also many of them were finding themselves faced with debt simply through trying to better themselves. The Broomall case was just one of several long-term whistleblower lawsuits which claimed that Kaplan were defrauding the federal government in order to gain federal monetary aid.

Being a whistleblower takes guts and determination

Making the decision to become a whistleblower isn't one that can be taken lightly and, as seen in the example above, can be a long drawn out process that can also be extremely costly. However, doing the right thing is not only admirable but can award you financially. It is vitally important to appoint a team well-versed whistleblower attorneys to represent you and advise you on whether there is indeed a case to answer and on how to proceed. The law is complicated and there is no way a layman would be able to take on this sort of case on their own. They would end up being laughed out of court!

It is reassuring to know that whistleblower protection is put into place that not only provides anonymity for the whistleblower in substantial cases but also protects him against retaliation and reprisal when filing a whistleblower lawsuit. In such cases as these the only people who know that a case has been filed is the whistleblower lawyer and the government. This is to give the lawyer plenty of time to carry out a thorough investigation into the charges and to try and get the relevant government departments on board, which can only strengthen the chance of success.

Once a whistleblower's identity is revealed their employer is not permitted to take any form of retaliation, whether the case is proven or not, and this includes:

• firing
• de-moting
• suspension
• threatening behavior
• harassment
• any other behavior which discriminates the whistleblower from his colleagues

The government is actively seeking to crack down on fraud against and incentives such as a percentage of monies recovered in a successful whistleblower lawsuit are helping to encourage people to report fraud and become more actively involved.